HELEN PHAN

HÉLEN PHAN, born in 1989 is a Child Culture Designer and a  Product Designer based in Malmö, Sweden.

She is a young-at-heart designer totally infatuated with child culture and play. She designs experiences for and WITH children, working with products / interiors / spaces / graphics / concepts / service / workshops. She also does lectures on children's participation.

Find here following some of her projects:

AL'S HOUSE
A playhouse with tiny aluminium figures designed to be made in the technique aluminium-profiling. Inspired by children’s drawings of houses.
The concept is a neutral playhouse with belonging figures, free from class, gender and ethnicity. The colours and shapes of the figures represent the similarities and dissimilarities of people.

PAUSE 
It suits one single child in need of an own private space as well as for two or more children’s need for social play in privacy. The concept also considers kindergarten as a context by having felt as material, a material that is sound absorbing at the same time as it enhances the feeling of a private space.
By being foldable PAUSE can easily be knocked down to be stored and save space. It could also be hung up on a wall and turned into a playful sound absorber.

KIWI BIRD BOX
How can a toy unite children with autism and other children in play?
Play makes the tool of Kiwi Bird box to give children with autism the opportunity to develop in social interaction with other children. Because, children are in fact the best pedagogues a child with autism can have. It is a  mutual peep box for two children to play, interact and communicate with each other. With the help of magical magnetism that the kiwi birds possess, children can show, tell and guide each other in a playful way when watching and affecting the world inside Kiwi Bird Box.

BIG FINKI  
Play is about telling a story and finding bodily joy.
Big Fink and Little Fink are designed to be children's roommates, the kind of friendly play objects that have souls. Responding to children through physical interaction, the finks encourage children to express themselves bodily and narratively in cuddly play.Their bodies are made of textile and foam, and deep inside them lies the secret to their wobbliness: a small bag of rice that keep the them down-to-earth.

BLOB SLEDDING
Your friend through cold and snowy days!

GRÖNKULLA
A play furniture, designed to encourage children to express themselves physically in play with big bodily movements. Children are constantly discovering life with all their senses and their whole body. A physically active child is a play signal, that invites other children to join.

ORANGE
REST, SIT, PLAY, PRETEND, ROCK, GROW, ORANGE. ORANGE is designed to be an enclosed and protecting pupa for children with the possibility to open up for play and imagination. It's a product to grow up with, having the qualities of cradle, chair, resting place, swing, hut, toy, you name it.

2 Aprile 2014 "World Autism Awareness Day" e la piccola SAMMY

Oggi, 2 Aprile 2014, è il giorno del World Autism Awareness Day (Giornata Mondiale per la Consapevolezza sull'autismo). L'obiettivo di questa giornata è quello di far conoscere e far capire, nei limiti del possibile, cosa vivono gli autistici e le loro famiglie. Il colore blu che caratterizza la giornata vuole essere quindi uno strumento allegorico per attirare l'attenzione e far riflettere.

Seguo da sempre (penso di essere stata tra i primi 80 follower) l'account Instagram di Sue Klein, di suo marito e di sua figlia, la meravigliosa Sammy, autistica.

Le foto di Sue sono un inno alla gioia, sono favolose, trasmettono solo felicità e sono sempre complete di didascalie toccanti, che ti fanno entrare nel magico mondo di Sammy. 

Potete leggere una bellissima intervista fatta da Poopsiecollective a Sue Kleine (in inglese), che vi commuoverà, ma che rende più consapevoli, che mostra un lato delle cose che spesso non conosciamo.

Noi celebriamo questa giornata celebrando la piccola Sammy, che abbracciamo forte forte.

Cercatela su Instagram @sueshine
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Today, April 2, 2014 , is the "World Autism Awareness Day". It aims to increase people's awareness about people, especially children, with autism and it aims to let you understand as far as possible , how autistic kids and their families live. The blue color that characterizes this special day wants to capture the attention of people and make them think.I have always followed (I think I was among her first 80 followers) the Instagram account of Sue Klein, of her husband and expecially of her daughter , the wonderful Sammy, who is autistic.The pictures of Sue are an ode to joy, they are fantastic, they make you feel happ and are are always full of poignant captions, that make you enter the magical world of Sammy .You can read a nice interview done by Poopsiecollective to Sue Kleine (in English ), that is very touchable, and that makes you more aware, showing a side of things that often we do not know.We celebrate this day by celebrating the little Sammy. Sammy we hug you! Search it on Instagram @sueshine

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all the pictures are of property of Sue Klein!!!

"ECHOLILIA" DI TIMOTHY ARCHIBALD, UN PROGETTO FOTOGRAFICO CHE SORPRENDE E COMMUOVE

Timothy Archibald, un fotografo di San Francisco,  ha voluto rappresentare il figlio, Elijah, attraverso le immagini che rivelano una parte del suo modo di essere, a volte incomprensibile agli altri.

Poichè l'autismo è soprattutto un modo diverso di percepire e vivere il mondo, Timothy ha voluto comprendere l'universo di suo figlio, e ha voluto mostrarcelo, senza fronzoli.  

In un'intervista è stato chiesto al fotografo:
"Qual è il messaggio principale che speri che le persone colgano durante la visualizzazione di queste foto?
E lui ha risposto:
"Questo è il tuo bambino. E 'nato della natura, come tutto intorno a noi. Egli non può essere "perfetto, ma neppure  la natura lo è. Quindi acettalo, anticipalo, fai che che sia fiero di se stesso, e qui, cerca di definire te stesso."

Archibald  ha iniziato a fotografare suo figlio dall’età di 5 anni per scopi diagnostici, per mostrare ai medici i comportamenti del figlio, al solo scopo di avere riscontri sulla diagnosi di autismo. Da questi scatti  però è nato un progetto di comunicazione con il proprio bambino, che non può lasciare indifferenti, che emoziona e che commuove. Il progetto fotografico si chiama "Echolilia" e il libro è in vendita qui.
 
Scopri il progetto "Echolilia" di Timothy Archibald sul suo sito Internet.
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Timothy Archibald, a San Francisco based photographer, wanted to represent his son, Elijah, through a wide range of images that reveal a part of his way of being, at times incomprehensible to others.Because autism is primarily a different way of perceiving and experiencing the world, Timothy wanted to understand the universe of his son, and he wanted to show it to us, in a very direct way.
Archiblad has been asked(have a look at this interview):
"What’s the main message you hope people take away when viewing this series?"
This was his answer:
"This is your child. He is born of nature, like everything around us. He may not be “perfect”, but nature isn’t perfect. So let’s accept it, be up front about it, let him be proud of it, and here, let us define it ourselves."

Archibald began photographing son Elijah at age 5, and his intentions didn’t extend beyond documentation. One day, Archibald snapped some pictures to bring to behavioral specialists—Elijah was later diagnosed with autism. These shots turned into a project of communication with his child a project that  can not leave us indifferent, that excites and moves. The photographic project is called " Echolilia " and the book is on sale here .

Discover the project " Echolilia " by Timothy Archibald on his website.